


RPG

by ballonlea



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Isekai, Alternate Universe - KniRoun, Hiatus, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26774632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballonlea/pseuds/ballonlea
Summary: Waking up in a KniRoun town square seems like a dream come true until itactuallyhappens. For some reason, the townsfolk are convinced that Itaru and Chikage are Lancelot and Gawain in disguise, and to make matters worse, the legendary heroes are nowhere to be found. Merlin's lurking in the shadows, and there's no time to waste sightseeing in a game world.When Itaru said he wanted to be reborn as a protagonist, he didn't mean it like this!
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Utsuki Chikage
Comments: 15
Kudos: 84





	1. Real Swords (And Other Disasters)

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone, and happy ckit day! i hope you all enjoy the beginning of this crazy adventure!! i figured i could start posting now in honor of 10/3. 
> 
> also, i'd just like to note that as of right now, the chapter amount is tentative! there may be more or less depending on what i can fit into each chapter, but my current outline contains 14.
> 
> **2/15/2021: sorry this is on hiatus and might not be finished. i lost steam for a3

The first thing that Itaru fully wraps his head around is that Chikage is staring at him like he’s _done_ something.

The second thing is that he is definitely still holding the prop sword he had in his hand when they were rifling through the Mankai storage room. It’s blunt, but it’s weighty like real metal because it _is_ real metal. Which isn't at all a good thing, now that a crowd is starting to form.

The third thing registers quite distantly—he’s pretty sure the KniRoun theme park doesn’t accurately capture this specific setting. Which is the first town square in KniRoun VI, FYI. The buildings are a little shorter here than they are there. It also smells better over there. But these are things Itaru should probably tuck away for later when they're _not_ one wrong sentence away from being jailed for heresy.

Itaru can’t help but gravitate a little closer to Chikage, as if being closer would help him feel less like he’s standing out.

Chikage flinches. “What did you do.”

When he’s upset, Chikage’s questions never come out like questions. His voice doesn’t raise at the end. The words come out through gritted teeth, and invisible daggers shoot from his eyes directly into Itaru’s chest.

“I didn’t do anything!” Itaru says, which is the truth, as far as he knows.

They _were_ bickering in the storage room just moments ago, when Izumi had sent them on a sidequest to retrieve some props for rehearsal that day. They weren’t rehearsing anything in particular—it was just some practice so no one forgot how to do fight choreography—but she seemed particularly insistent that the two of them were the ones to go get it. Probably because they hadn’t really been getting along for the past week and a half. And they usually _did_ get along, despite how often Chikage poked fun at Itaru.

It'd only started because Itaru got a little too close one evening. At least that's what he thinks started it. They both had been sitting together on the couch when Itaru had decided to stretch out across Chikage's lap, begging him to grind a few training battles for him in _KniRoun: Attack!._ He wasn't going to get Lancelot's SSR+ unless he was constantly grinding, and he really, really needed to check on his _Crossing Animals_ village before the in-game shops closed.

Really, Itaru had no idea what possessed him to do that besides the fact that putting himself into Chikage's lap would place him in Chikage's direct line of site. He kind of expected Chikage to hit him or something.

Instead, Chikage had looked at him with such a… Well, Itaru still doesn't know how to describe it, but it was a look, accompanied by the faintest of smiles before Chikage so sweetly told him that he'll go blind if he keeps playing on his phone during all hours of the day.

The look was gone when Chikage had shifted his focus back to his phone screen. Itaru only knew the whole thing had _actually_ happened because his heart was pounding against his chest so hard that Chikage could probably hear it. Chikage didn't try to move him like he did with Hisoka, nor he didn't look uncomfortable like he did whenever a stray cat came to sit on his lap.

Itaru was shocked for so long that his new emergency battle had expired. He had quickly gone back to grinding, not bothering to move if Chikage was going to let him stay, and he only got up when Chikage flicked him in the forehead and said he had something he needed to do.

And the next day, Chikage was distant like he had been when he first joined Mankai. He'd hardly made the effort to glance in Itaru's direction, let alone talk to him. And when they _had_ spoken, it turned into some quarrel where Chikage always had the upper hand. No matter what Itaru did, he couldn't stop himself from getting lost in a maze of Chikage's half-truths and unspoken words, and he really had had enough of it by earlier today.

Izumi must have had enough of it too. Honestly, she probably only sent them specifically so they could bicker in the storage room rather than in the middle of practice. Chikage clammed up once they got there though, save for some remark about how Itaru was looking around the exact opposite side of the room that the props were actually in.

And they were picking through all the props for a total of five minutes before there was a loud bang and a bright flash of light, and the first episode of every single isekai anime Itaru had ever seen started running through his mind.

He's startled out of his thoughts when someone actually walks towards them. A young man that looks about Tsuzuru's age, but with eyes that sparkle like Sakuya's. He looks between the two of them for a second before actually speaking up.

"Are you foreigners?" he asks. "Can I buy your clothes off you?"

"For the right price," Chikage says, smoothly, before Itaru can protest.

"It's for a theater," the boy says. "We don't have much."

Chikage actually considers it. "Take me there. We'll haggle when I see it."

"Are you crazy?" Itaru hisses, but Chikage ignores him.

The boy leads him further into the town, down alleyways that are normally blocked off by invisible barriers in the actual game. Itaru half-expects the buildings back here to all be hollow and quiet, like set pieces normally are in video games, but they all seem so… full. He can see people in the windows. He can hear their voices. The deeper they go, the more convinced Itaru is that this is definitely not a dream, no matter which way he tries to spin it.

It's a little horrifying. Is time passing in the real world? Are he and Chikage going to be stuck here forever? Anxiety starts to bloom in his chest. There's demons in KniRoun; what if they get killed? What if a world-endy game event happens, and they get caught in the crossfire? Games never specify what happens to the NPCs.

"Here it is," the boy says. "This is our theater!"

Oh, Itaru almost feels _bad_ about selling their clothes to him.

It's less of a theater and more of a stage with a shack behind it. Itaru hasn't seen anything like it in any of the KniRoun games—even the worst areas in KniRoun are more extravagant. Posters of most of the main game Knights are plastered onto the wooden pillars that hold the stage up, looking like they haven't been touched since they were stuck on.

Itaru only half-listens to Chikage's conversation with the boy about the price of their clothes. He steps closer to the posters, studying the one with Lancelot's face front and center. It looks like a pretty accurate representation of him, but Itaru can't really tell since splotches of black paint completely block out his eyes. From what he can see, Lancelot still looks different than how Itaru had always imagined him. The text at the bottom says the title of the play is called _The Disappearance._

There's a matching one with Gawain on it, the composition mirroring that of the Lancelot poster. It's for the same play, but this one has a brief summary at the bottom. Itaru's pulled away by Chikage before he can properly read it.

Apparently, their "foreign" clothes are worth a set of "normal" clothes plus a few coins. They change in the shack, which holds nothing but costumes and props. It's not unlike the storage room they were whisked away from, the only visible difference being a missing sewing machine, and somehow, it makes Itaru feel unbelievably homesick.

"What do you think?" Chikage asks, plucking a straw hat from atop a pile of costumes and placing it on his head. He seems a little less pissed off than he was. "Do I look like an NPC?"

He's changed into a plain blue tunic, with snug dark pants. Itaru almost laughs at him—it looks like the KniRoun equivalent of what Chikage _normally_ wears.

"What's with the hat?" Itaru asks. He checks his pockets for his phone before he actually takes off his clothes. Of course, it's nowhere to be found.

"I like it. I saw a lot of people wearing hats on our way here," Chikage says. "I don't have my phone either."

Somehow, Itaru's a little disappointed. Not like a phone could really do anything here, anyway.

Itaru picks the first pair of pants he sees that has pockets and whatever shirt Chikage tosses to him. The fabrics are a little scratchy, but he ends up feeling less like an NPC and more like a protagonist when he actually puts it on. Having a sword on his hip definitely helps. Sure, the sword might not work very well, but he probably looks _super_ cool.

Chikage surveys him, his eyes slowly dragging up and down Itaru's body.

"You look like a cosplayer," he says.

Ouch.

They leave the theater about as quickly as they came. It's a lot easier navigating back to the town square, especially now that not as many people are staring at them.

It doesn't feel like much of a town. It's louder than Itaru expected it to be, what with video game sets and all that, but it still doesn't quite feel real. In the games, the Knights always talk about food stalls and townsfolk and crowds. None of those things seem to exist outside of the town square. And there's hardly anything about Lancelot anywhere! Everyone knows that Lancelot is super famous both in-universe and in the real world, so shouldn't there be something besides just a theatre poster talking about him?

Chikage decides to take a different way back to the square. The roads are pretty empty and only about half-paved; Itaru feels like he's going to twist his ankle every time he has to walk on parts of the cobblestone. Few people pass them and even fewer look up at them. Those who do stare for just a little too long before they walk a little bit faster. It makes Itaru stick just a little closer to Chikage.

"Got any ideas on how to get back home?" Itaru asks. "Mr. Cheat Character."

"None at all."

Chikage says it like it doesn't bother him. Like having to up and leave home behind forever is nothing more troublesome than a pebble in his shoe—and actually, Itaru wouldn't be surprised if that _was_ the case. Wasn't he ready to abandon Mankai back when he first joined anyway? He thought it'd be different now, though…

It's still not easy to think, even when he's walking at a much more leisurely pace throughout the town. And it's never really easy to think about Chikage at all. Every time Itaru thinks he's gotten the hang of how Chikage thinks, Chikage goes and does something like get mad at him for a week because he got a little too close.

Yeah, Itaru's still gonna be bitter about that for a little while. He really thought they were getting somewhere.

"Do _you_ have any ideas?" Chikage asks. "Isn't something like this the plot of an anime?"

"Yeah, but usually they either don't go home or they have to go through some crazy adventure to get home. And unfortunately, we were turned into NPCs."

Itaru sticks his hands in his pockets. He doesn't like not having his phone, but he's pretty sure Google wouldn't have an answer to _how to un-isekai yourself_ whether he had it or not. It doesn't look like there's any cellphone towers around that would pick up the question either.

Great. Perfect! He gets what he always wishes for, but he's stuck as a side character. Before he knows it, Lancelot is going to come crashing in, and all Itaru will be able to say is the same line over and over again. He probably won't even get a cool line to say. It might even just be something like _Good day, Lancelot!._ Lame.

Chikage shrugs. "At least that means you won't have to go to work tomorrow."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better, but at least work has WiFi."

"...Well, what else are we supposed to do in a situation like this?"

Chikage stops walking. They're on a quiet side street—the perfect place to talk about things like WiFi and NPCs without being accused of heresy. Crossing his arms, Itaru leans against the stone wall of one of the buildings.

"An epic quest where we find the portal back home would be nice," Itaru says.

"We didn't come here through a portal." Chikage glances around, lowering his voice as someone turns into the street. "Unless you know of one."

The person doesn't spare a glance in their direction. Itaru waits for her to get a little further down the street before he answers.

"There's not really anything like that in KniRoun. There's teleportation spots, but those are kinda just a game mechanic. Like, none of the characters mention them, so I don't think they're implied to actually be in the world."

Chikage sighs. "So none of them are worth investigating."

"Nope," Itaru says. "And even if they did exist, it's a fairy thing. Only Lancelot would be able to use them 'cause he's a friend of the fairies."

"Right."

Itaru raises an eyebrow when the same person from before walks down the street again. She walks slowly this time, but she still doesn't look at them. Chikage steps a little closer to Itaru, but he doesn't keep talking until the lady has completely moved on.

"Don't you have a weird feeling about all of this?" Chikage asks. "Besides the obvious."

"The atmosphere's a little weird for a KniRoun game," Itaru says. "It's… dark?"

Chikage hums. "Even at its worst moments, IV felt a little brighter."

"Exactly! Even when Gareth died, it didn't feel like this."

"It's silent too. Listen."

Somehow, the street became even more quiet in the time that they'd been talking. Itaru's staring at Chikage, but Chikage's eyes have drifted towards the end of the street, where most traffic came from. Hardly a heartbeat passes before there's a clatter of footsteps, and Itaru turns his head to see that the lady has appeared once again, this time with a few more people.

She points at them. "It's those two! It's Lancelot and Gawain!"

"I'm sorry," Chikage says, "you must be mistaken, miss. We're not—"

Chikage doesn't get the chance to explain further; both the lady and the people she brought with her start running towards them. A few of the men have swords, and Itaru's immobile until Chikage grabs him by the wrist and starts pulling him along.

Itaru can't tell any of the streets apart when they're running through them so quickly—not like he'd really be able to tell them apart normally, but that's not the point. He can hardly breathe, can hardly keep up with Chikage's pace, can hardly avoid falling down all over the place. 

Chikage takes sharp turns and shoves people out of his way, and if the situation was a little less urgent, Itaru might have made a comment about how he's kinda glad he's always the one driving them places. His grip on Itaru tightens as they approach a busier street, lined with stalls and full of people.

"Run faster!" Chikage shouts back at him.

Itaru doesn't have breath to spare to argue. He's going to collapse if they keep this up any longer, and he's starting to weigh the pros and cons of actually being caught by these people. It probably wouldn't be so bad as long as they don't kill him. Because his legs are on fire and his lungs are on fire and—

His train of thought crumbles when his foot catches on just the wrong piece of uneven cobblestone. He only barely stops himself from breaking his nose on the stone, but it makes his wrists hurt so much that it's hard to try and get up. And he can't see Chikage anymore, and he thinks those people must have caught up to him by now, and oh God, if he dies, who's going to sell his _Crossing Animals_ turnips on Sunday?!

"It's over, Lancelot!" one of the men spits. "Turn yourself in!"

Somehow, _somehow_ Itaru manages to get up. The man's sword is pointed directly at him, and Itaru realizes that this is the first time he's seen a sword that sharp before. 

Like a reasonable person, he turns around and keeps running so it's at least not his last time seeing a sword so sharp.

He spots Chikage coming back towards him, but he turns around and they keep going together. Itaru's wrists still hurt like hell—everything hurts like hell, really—but he thinks they make enough twists and turns this time that they comfortably lose their pursuers, and they end up in the outskirts of town. It's here where Chikage finally lets them slow down, but he doesn't let them fully stop. They turn towards a path through the forest.

"Are you alright?" Chikage asks, like its out of courtesy rather than out of concern. He doesn't seem affected by any of that at all.

"I'm dying," Itaru gasps. "You're using cheat codes."

The forest floor is _much_ better to walk on, and thankfully, they only walk through it for a few minutes before Chikage suggests that they take a seat by a large pond.

Itaru's legs actually do give out on him this time. He leans against one of the trees at the pond's edge, his breathing calmed only slightly. Chikage sits across from him and takes that stupid straw hat off his head, and Itaru notices that it somehow didn't fly off during all of that. Of course it didn't.

After a few moments, Chikage reaches over and takes one of Itaru's wrists in his hands.

"Sorry," he says when Itaru winces. "Your palms are scratched up."

"If only Gwen were here." Itaru hardly has the energy to tug his arm away, but he manages. "That was horrible."

Chikage nods. "It was. It'll be better if you clean up your palms, though."

"I meant the getting chased thing, not the falling thing." Itaru huffs. "Those people were so weird. No one hates Lancelot!"

"There's something wrong with all of this," Chikage says. "Your KniRoun disease rubbed off on me. Even I can tell something's up."

KniRoun disease?! It's not a disease… but Chikage's right. Itaru can't think of a reason that anyone except for, say, Merlin would hate Lancelot. In every single KniRoun game so far—even in V—Lancelot is always the hero. He's always praised and adored by the people. The people here, though… That strange play poster combined with those angry people make it seem like Lancelot isn't very well-liked at all.

"Could it be Merlin?" Chikage asks. "Is there any indication in the games that he's gone for good?"

Itaru shakes his head. "He's always the big bad. Even when he's not present in the games, the main villain is always under his influence at the very least."

"I hate saying this, but I think you might have a better chance at figuring this out than I do." Chikage sighs. "We should just wait here for a little while. We can keep moving when your legs stop being useless."

With that, Chikage moves a little closer to the water.

Itaru has no idea how he's supposed to feel about this. Usually, he counts on Chikage always being a few steps ahead, but now it's Itaru who knows more?! And Itaru hardly knows anything at all! It doesn't make him feel better about potentially being trapped here for all of eternity. If he's stuck here, then he can't play games again. He can't tier in mobile games anymore. He can't tell Banri to eat his dust every time he sneaks in some grinding during work, and he can't complain about curry for the fourth day in a row, and he can't translate for Citron anymore or have drinks with Azuma or smell that stupid, dusty old storage room or get punched by his sister or—

Itaru doesn't realize he's crying until he lets out a sob, and Chikage looks back at him.

"...Come here. If it hurts that badly, I'll wash the blood off for you."

It's less embarrassing to pretend it's the scrapes on his palms are making him cry, so he musters up the strength to move next to Chikage. Chikage is more gentle with his wrists this time, and the water is cool when Chikage dips his hands in.

For a moment, Itaru thinks he sees a burst of light in the corner of his eye. Like a flashlight or something, but it _can't_ be a flashlight because flashlights haven't been invented yet in this stupid, shitty KniRoun timeline. If he was a little more convinced that he was transformed into a protagonist, he would have thought it was a fairy. 

"That's…" Chikage takes one of Itaru's hands out of the water. "The scrapes are gone."

"I don't even want to think about why that happened." Itaru inspects his palms a little closer. Somehow, the scrapes really are gone, which… kinda convinces him that it actually was a fairy. But that'd be ridiculous—Itaru would have known by now if he could see fairies. "I'm done thinking for today."

"At least it won't hurt anymore," Chikage says.

"At least it won't hurt anymore."

Itaru slumps back against the tree again and watches as Chikage starts pulling some blades of grass up and dipping them in the water. He's probably trying to test something, but Itaru's pretty sure that there's no such thing as a magical healing lake in KniRoun. And if there was, he definitely would have known about it. And it's not like they're at _the_ lake—AKA the Lake with a capital L, the Lady of the Lake's Lake—but this is a pond anyway, so there really is no reason for those scrapes to have completely gone away.

Which is even more frustrating! If this pond has some kind of magic water, then does Itaru know anything about KniRoun at all? Would it be worth trying to find Lancelot's teleportation spots, then? Everything about this makes his head spin, and he just wants to _go home._

Itaru's days of wishing to be reborn into another world are officially over.


	2. KniRoun VI is a Cult Classic, Y'know

They ended up sleeping in the forest last night, and Itaru is sore all over when he wakes up. Just like back home, Chikage is already awake. Or maybe he hasn't slept. Itaru never knows which it is, but his glasses (and that stupid hat) are off, and he's splashing the pond water on his face.

It's early enough that the sun hasn't fully risen. Through the leaves, darkness is still draining from the sky, only the faintest hint of light blue beginning to show. Itaru hates waking up early, even if he's waking up in Britannia, but he fell asleep quickly the night before. The forest floor was a lot more comfortable last night than it is this morning.

But his wrists don't hurt, and the scrapes are still gone. Which Itaru still doesn't know the answer to, especially since last night Chikage concluded that the pond is most likely  _ not  _ filled with magic water.

"Morning," Itaru says. He stands up and does his best to try and stretch his back out.

Chikage looks over at him, and Itaru hates that he realizes that Chikage is handsome even without his glasses on. Usually that sort of thing is either one or the other, but of course someone like Chikage would get to look nice either way.

"Did you think of a plan?" Chikage asks.

And just like that, Itaru is once again crushed by the weight of responsibility. "Uh."

"I thought so." Chikage puts his glasses on first, then his hat. "I was thinking we should try to find Lancelot and Gawain. Am I correct in assuming that they'd be in King Arthur's castle?"

Itaru thinks about it for a moment. "Depends. If they're out saving the world, then they're not gonna be there. But we should probably figure out if the world needs saving before we try barging into Camelot."

"I see," Chikage says. "So today will be best spent gathering information."

"Yeah, probably."

Chikage stands up, then, and moves close to Itaru. He takes Itaru's hand, depositing a few coins into Itaru's palm.

"If we keep following the path through here, we'll end up at the next town," Chikage says. "See if you can buy a map with these when we get there."

He doesn't step back right away; instead he reaches up and runs his fingers through Itaru's fringe. Heat rises to Itaru's cheeks—it's not really Chikage touching him that makes him feel weird, but Chikage's looking at him so intently that Itaru feels like he's under a spotlight. When Chikage is finished messing around with Itaru's hair, he searches Itaru's face.

Itaru doesn't know what Chikage could possibly be looking for, but he steps away from Itaru once he's satisfied. "You look less like Lancelot with your hair like that instead."

"Thank you…?" Itaru can't really think straight. He can hear his heartbeat all the way up in his ears.

Chikage shrugs. "You should've just grabbed a hat."

They reach the next town by midday. It's a bit smaller than the town they were in before, but the size makes it a bit busier. Itaru doesn't recognize it at all, and having to wrap his head around the fact that there are places in Britannia that were never shown in the KniRoun games is dizzying. The roads here are made completely out of dirt, and it's easier to walk around without the fear of tripping on uneven stone.

He and Chikage part ways with a plan to meet back at the town's entrance when the sun hangs a little lower in the sky. Strangely, Itaru feels like he can breathe a little more when he's walking through the town by himself. Which isn't really to say that Chikage's presence can be suffocating, it's just that…

Okay, Chikage can be a little suffocating sometimes. But it's not entirely his fault. Itaru's still in the middle of being crushed by tons of weird feelings about Chikage that make it hard for him to  _ not  _ overthink everything he does. It's a little bit like how he was worried about breathing wrong in elementary school. Which isn't much of a good thing, really, but overthinking is easy when it comes to someone like Chikage.

Either way, investigating small stalls and shop windows is a lot less stressful by himself. Chikage always makes a big deal about standing in one spot for too long, but surely taking time to look at things won't hurt. Especially when they're super cool things from the  _ actual  _ Britannia, and if they  _ do  _ get to go back home, Itaru's gonna have a ton of material to pull from when he's in the mood to create some new fan theories.

(Oh, and Tonooka's gonna be  _ so jealous.  _ Not like he cares too much about what that guy thinks anymore, but it's a personal victory.)

He figures his best chance at getting a map will be in a bookshop that he spots as he rounds the corner. Struggling to push the thick door open almost has him wishing that Chikage were here to push it open instead. The smell of leather greets him when he  _ does  _ get it open, in place of the group of people at the counter who don't look up at him. They've certainly piqued Itaru's interest, though. They look a bit like students.

Itaru makes himself busy by looking at the spines of some of the books on the shelves. Most of them are about Lancelot, which feels a little more consistent with KniRoun's canon. He's not really interested in the contents of the books, but he picks one out and starts flipping through the pages as the students begin to speak again.

"As I was saying," one says, "His Majesty simply is not prepared to send us into war right now. We are no match for the likes of demons. Especially since Lancelot is… out of commission."

He says the last part with a hint of disgust, like speaking Lancelot's name is a curse. It's more in line with how the citizens of the last town were, which makes Itaru want to put the book back, honestly.

"It's a predicament," another says, uneasily. "His Majesty has called upon Lancelot every other time we have needed to defeat Merlin—"

"How are you  _ still  _ so certain that it's Merlin who's behind this?" a third asks. "I've told you both that Lancelot's been a demon this whole time. It's  _ him  _ throwing the world into disarray."

The group falls silent, and Itaru quietly slips the book back onto the shelf. Instead, he turns towards a different shelf filled with encyclopedias. He actually might have a better chance of finding a map on this shelf, even if he's only pretending to look for something.

The first boy laughs. "Your head's full of fairy dust, Al. Lancelot may be a sham, but he isn't a  _ demon." _

"Precisely. It's been Merlin every time before, and it's Merlin this time as well." The second sighs. "Merlin is likely the one behind Lancelot's actions anyway."

The group of students laugh, and the conversation topic shifts just as Itaru's eyes land on a rolled up piece of parchment. That whole discussion raised more questions than answers. If Lancelot's done something, then it makes sense that no one seems to like him much anymore… but what could Lancelot have done? He's  _ always  _ been the good guy. Always!

He unrolls the parchment carefully, and as expected, there's a rough illustration of this area of Britannia on it. Oddly enough, it resembles the art style of the maps in KniRoun VII. This town doesn't appear to be too far from Camelot, and if a war's being waged, then Camelot is definitely the direction they should be headed. Besides, if Lancelot is "out of commission," then he might be at the castle, too.

The group parts when Itaru approaches the counter. It's the first voice who sits behind it.

"Good day," he says. "I've never seen you around before."

"I'm a traveler," Itaru says. It's not really a lie. "How much does this map cost?"

"Where are you traveling from?"

All three of the students stare at Itaru, waiting for his answer. He tries to rack his brain for a believable place, but it's hard to come up with obscure KniRoun facts when put directly on the spot like this.

"The East?"

It's more of a question than an answer. The boy at the counter nods like it actually makes sense.

"The East," he repeats. "Why, you speak so well. I had no idea."

"He  _ does _ look like a foreigner," the second boy says. "Where might you be trying to get to?"

They stare at him again, and Itaru shifts his weight uncomfortably. "I've got a friend in Camelot."

"How wonderful," the third boy drawls. "Sure, let's allow  _ anyone  _ in to Camelot. Everyone's got a friend there. We'll be overrun by spies and traitors by the time our education is finished."

The first boy slaps the third's arm. "He doesn't mean that. He's a bit slow. The map is yours for fifty gold, for the trouble."

Itaru struggles with counting out the correct amount of coins, which the boys excuse him for. The second boy explains the differences between the coins of the East and the coins of Britannia in a way that would be helpful if Itaru knew anything about the East. It was honestly something he pulled out of his ass, but most RPGs have a poorly thought-out, exoticized "East" that's more of a horrible mix of random Asian cultures than an actual country. He's glad the same applies to KniRoun, even if it hasn't been mentioned in the games before.

The door is easier to push on his way out. It feels like he's spent hours in the bookstore, but it looks like it was hardly any time at all. He's probably got enough time to keep exploring the town before he has to meet back up with Chikage, but his stomach kind of turns at the idea of Lancelot being missing or sick or  _ whatever  _ out of commission is supposed to mean, so he heads back to the town's entrance without taking any detours.

Maybe Chikage has found something out by now.

The first thing Chikage does when they reunite is throw a bundle of fabric directly at Itaru's face.

"It's a cloak," Chikage says. "Are you ready to join a cult?"

"A cult?! Senpai, are you crazy?"

"No," Chikage says, already fastening his cloak around his neck. "I went eavesdropping until I heard someone start talking about Lancelot and Gawain. And then I asked questions until I was invited to a cult meeting. You're my plus one."

Itaru looks down at the fabric in his hands and then back up at Chikage. Chikage's got the kind of smirk on his face that suggests he's  _ way  _ too comfortable with this idea. Or like he's been to some cult meetings before.

... _ Has _ he been to some cult meetings before?

Itaru doesn't want to dwell on that idea. "What do Lancelot and Gawain have to do with a cult?"

"Wish I could have found  _ that _ out." Chikage rolls his eyes. "Everyone here dances around the topic of either of them. Like they're afraid of talking about it."

"Yeah, some kids in the bookstore were talking super strangely about Lancelot," Itaru says. "I think he might be sick or something."

Chikage's eyebrows raise, like he knows more than he's telling Itaru. "That would make sense."

Itaru wants to press that statement, but Chikage asks to see the map before Itaru can mentally press the L button. He unrolls it, turning it over and over a few times before he figures out its proper orientation, and it's both cute and weird to see Chikage not immediately know how to do something.

"So, you're thinking we should head to Camelot," Chikage says. "That doesn't seem like a bad idea."

"They said Lancelot's out of commission," Itaru says. "If he's sick or injured or something, he's probably going to be at the castle."

"And if he isn't?" Chikage asks. "What if he isn't sick? Have you thought about that?"

Itaru freezes. "Well—"

"So you haven't." Chikage rolls the map back up, handing it back. "Don't lose this. Meet me back here at sundown."

With that, Chikage turns on his heel and disappears further into the town, and Itaru's pretty sure he's gone and fucked everything up again. 

Itaru has cooled down by the time the sun sets, and he and Chikage make their way wordlessly towards a house in the center of the town. It's a little narrow compared to the other houses around, but it has two stories, and a few groups of people hang around nearby.

Chikage starts fussing before they go inside, unfastening and refastening the closure on Itaru's cloak. Itaru only bears it because it reminds him of when he was a bit younger, and his sister would spend twenty minutes fixing and tugging on whatever frilly dress she'd made him wear. He's used to this sort of thing by now.

"You're not wearing it right," Chikage says. Itaru's not sure if there's a wrong way to wear a weird cult cloak. "I'm counting on you to help us blend in here."

Itaru's eyes go wide. "Me?"

"Oh no, I was talking to this closure that won't sit right," Chikage drawls. "Yes, you. You know more about Lancelot and Gawain than any of these people probably do. As long as you run your mouth when you're supposed to, we'll be fine."

Itaru swats Chikage's hands away after the seventh refastening. "Hey,  _ you  _ know enough about them too."

"Do you think I keep things like that in my head?" Chikage turns towards the door. "Let's go."

Inside is crowded, and it seems pretty normal for a cult gathering. A table and chairs sit in the center of the room, and a hearth sits at the very corner. It's a little chilling to see a bunch of cloaked figures gathered around a fire, but Itaru's got a feeling that that's not going to be the scariest thing he sees tonight.

Upstairs is lit solely by small thin candles that hardly carry a scent at all. There's even more people than there were downstairs, and Itaru grips the edge of Chikage's cloak so they don't get too separated from each other. Murmurs fill the room, but Itaru can hardly make out the entirety of any one conversation.

Chikage stops moving once they reach a spot amongst the cult members that's a few rows back from a clearing in the front. One woman, with her cloak unfastened and hanging around her biceps like a shawl, stands in the center of the clearing. Her shadow looms tall on the wall behind her, directly in the middle of two large paintings of Lancelot and Gawain.

The paintings resemble the posters Itaru saw at the theater; they both face directly forward, but while the posters were only from the shoulder up, these ones extend all the way down to the waist, where they both clasp their legendary endgame swords. The flickering of the candles makes it seem like they're both staring directly at Itaru, and he shivers when he meets Lancelot's eyes.

"Creepy," he whispers to Chikage.

To his surprise, Chikage nods in agreement.

The meeting starts shortly after, when the woman at the front claps her hands twice and the crowd falls silent.

"Welcome, friends," she says, in a lofty voice that sounds totally put on. "Tonight, as every night, shall begin with a moment of remembrance for our lost heroes. May they find their way safely back to us."

"May they find their way safely," the crowd responds. Someone next to Itaru elbows him hard, and he coughs out a response too.

"While His Majesty and the rest of the Knights may presume them dead, there is no doubt that Lancelot is still out there, locked in battle with the enemy. We all know well that Gawain is naturally at his side." The woman drifts closer to Lancelot's portrait. "My friends, I do have good news to share with you all tonight. I believe our prayers may have been answered."

The crowd does not speak, but Itaru does see people looking around. Someone at the front jumps up and down in place, while the person next to them nearly faints.

The woman laughs, gentle and airy. "Our dear friends west of us send news that Lancelot and Gawain were spotted amongst them only yesterday. We must give thanks to the spirit of last moon's sacrifice, for he has surely brought them closer to us with his divine offering."

Itaru glances at Chikage through the corner of his eye. Was he hearing all of this? He looks poker-faced as usual, but Itaru's pretty sure this lady just implied that they sacrificed a guy last month. What the hell?! The games never said anything about stuff like this!

The woman drones on for a little while longer, mainly reiterating that they won't know for sure whether or not Lancelot and Gawain really are alive until Camelot declares them as such. The thought of them being dead at all rests like a rock in Itaru's stomach. They couldn't be… They couldn't be  _ dead,  _ could they? Hoshii has never stated any plans of killing off Lancelot. In fact, Itaru was present at one of the panels where Hoshii mentioned not wanting to kill Lancelot  _ or  _ Gawain.

Itaru's not sure if Chikage gets pushed or if he does it out of his own volition, but he ends up close enough that their arms brush. It helps Itaru calm down a little, even when the leader starts recounting some gory poems about how Lancelot and Gawain may or may not have met their demise. It hurts to listen to, and Itaru does his best to drown it out by trying to think of literally anything except for her words.

The meeting ends, but Itaru doesn't feel any better. He's still lost in thought as Chikage starts talking to the cult member who elbowed him earlier. Maybe Lancelot and Gawain are just missing. Maybe they're carrying out a secret mission. Maybe Merlin really is coming back, and they've just been on the way to take him down. But they can't be dead.

Will they even be able to get back if Lancelot  _ is  _ dead? If they're planning on using teleportation spots, then Lancelot's their only hope. They could probably try asking the Lady of the Lake, but... Itaru doubts that she'd help them. In the games, her only purpose is raising Lancelot. She might not be interested in or able to create a portal back to their world.

Itaru shakes his head to try and snap out of it, rejoining the conversation at just the right time. He gathers that the cult member is an innkeeper, and he's offering them a room for a few nights.

"Out of the goodness of my heart," he says to Chikage, "since your friend over there seems a bit… simple. You shouldn't travel at night like that. Besides, you're one of us now."

The idea of sleeping in an actual bed is way too appealing for Itaru to stay silent. "We'd love to!"

Chikage shoots him a glare as the innkeeper leads them through the dark streets. If he's mad, he doesn't actually say anything about it. Itaru can deal with a dirty look or two. 

For a town so small, the inn is bright and warm. It looks  _ just  _ like any generic RPG inn, with a long bar in the main room and structurally questionable wooden stairs towards the back. The travelers sitting at the bar don't notice them when they walk in, too involved with their own conversations to spare a glance in their direction. It kinda gets Itaru excited. He's always wondered what it's like to actually be in one of these, and now he'll never forget!

The room the innkeeper leaves them with is a bit on the small side, and it's tucked all the way into the very corner of the building. The bed (singular, Itaru notes, the  _ one  _ bed) looks to be a decent size, and there's a table with two chairs by the window. Definitely better than sleeping on the forest floor.

Itaru flops onto the bed immediately, just like he does in real-world hotels. "Hell yeah. Now my back won't hurt tomorrow."

"I don't trust that guy," Chikage grumbles. He noisily pulls a chair out from under the table to sit in. "What were you thinking, doing something like that?"

"You've been pissed at me all day, senpai," Itaru says. "Can you at least be grateful that I got us a roof over our heads? Who knows if it's gonna rain or not."

"I've been upset because you're acting  _ stupid. _ Is your head empty? Did you forget about the people who tried to  _ capture us  _ yesterday? Who knows if this innkeeper is the same way." Chikage turns away from Itaru, cracking open the window enough so he can see out. "I'm not going to sleep. You can, but I'll be keeping an eye out in case someone else tries something."

Itaru sits up. Everything he thinks about saying doesn't make it past his lips. He knows Chikage well enough by now that an apology would be deflected and any arguments would be ignored. Especially since Chikage  _ does  _ have a point, even if that point stings. Though none of the cult members seem to have seen a resemblance between the two of them and their idols, they've got know way of knowing if the innkeeper is the same way.

The thought of sacrifices sends a chill down his spine. Could something like that happen to them?

Chikage sighs, and Itaru decides that he's probably not ever going to think of the right thing to say, or at least he won't tonight. Plus, just being on the bed is making him super sleepy, and he'll probably have a better chance at not continuing to piss off Chikage if he gets enough rest.

Itaru falls asleep almost immediately after he slips under the scratchy blanket, and vaguely, he feels like he has some sort of nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you everyone for all of your support so far! it really means a lot to me!! thank you for enjoying my incredible self-indulgence
> 
> writing has been really hard for me lately, even with the chapters that are already written, so reading all of your comments has been really inspiring <3 i'll keep working hard for you guys :pleading:
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/fairykei)

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/fairykei)


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